At the sight of the white jade figure before them, Dragon-Subduing Arhat alone remained expressionless. The other two Supreme Capital Arhats hurriedly composed their expressions and pressed their palms together.
"Greetings, Bodhisattva."
In truth, when it came down to it,
River-Crossing and Cloth Bag both harbored a measure of contempt for this Dragon Girl Bodhisattva.
After all, she had once been nothing more than a demon who stirred up winds and waves.
She should never have stood above so many Arhats.
But her fortune reached the heavens.
By a stroke of luck, she had been brought into the Buddhist Sect. Through blessings cultivated over who knew how many lifetimes, she had even attained the fruition of a Bodhisattva.
Later, she had won that person's favor, which had given her the transcendent standing she enjoyed today.
Thus, however much they scorned her inwardly, they still had to observe every courtesy and rule with utmost respect.
Besides...
Cloth Bag Arhat's eyes shifted slightly, his mind already made up.
He straightened a little, put on an expression of bitter anguish, and spoke first. "Bodhisattva, please judge wisely. Today's failure at the Gratitude Assembly was not because we failed to give our all."
"Rather, Dragon-Subduing disregarded the greater good and openly defied your decree."
"River-Crossing and I had already stabilized the situation. The World-Crossing Blood Lotus was only one final step from completion."
"Yet Dragon-Subduing remained obstinate. For the sake of those antlike rogue cultivators, he brazenly struck at us with lethal force."
"Had he not created complications and provoked internal strife, how could River-Crossing and I have been tied down by him? However incompetent the followers below might have been, they would never have let the Heavenly Court's people swagger in and out at will, much less lose the Nine-Colored Bodhi!"
Cloth Bag